Forum:Opinions of ME 3 Demo
Just wondering what everyone's opinions were of the Mass Effect 3 Demo. I've played it about four times now and still can't get enough. The beginning just sucks me in, especially the parts with the kid. You can tell by how Shepard's facial features are displayed that the constant conflict and hardship is starting to take it's toll. I like that Bioware is depicting that. And the part where you leave Earth, you leave Anderson there, it almost feels like it's the last time you'll see him alive. Then to top it all off, Shepard is poignantly reminded that he can't save everyone when the two Kodiaks are blasted out of the sky by the Reaper. It was emotional and so far, I am very impressed. I can't wait until March 6. So please, any opinions? Also, opinions of Multiplayer? I thought it was actually pretty good (This coming from someone who bought the Call of Duty games for the Single Player campaign and who hates multiplayer)--Iiams571 03:41, February 15, 2012 (UTC) I thought it was okay, but a little short. The bigger variety of powers takes some getting used to, and the controls feel sloppier; it'll be at least a few hours of gameplay before I'm comfortable, and probably a playthrough or two before I really think I've got it down. I was also a little miffed that I didn't get to use a sniper rifle with my Infiltrator -- when I started the second mission, I was given a shotgun instead for some reason. Diyartifact 05:23, February 15, 2012 (UTC) This demo, as far as demos go, is one of the most polished and variable (in how you can approach it) that I've ever played. First I would just like to get the concerns/criticisms that I have about it out and done with before I (like many others) talk about how good it is. DISCLAIMER: Yes I know that this is a DEMO and not the final product but the issues that follow are legitimate concerns that I have towards the gameplay. Point 1 POWERS: For ME1, ME2, this demo, and of course in ME3, I will/have been playing as a soldier (I also tried out the sentinel in this demo and some of these issues can be applied to any class and their respective powers as well). Therefore it should come as no surprise that one of my most used powers is Adrenaline Rush. Now I have to say that I am BEYOND relieved that BioWare fixed the rate of fire and reloading discrepancies with semi automatic weapons (former) and all weapons (latter), and that you (as Shepard) now remain completely in "real time" while the rest of the world is dilated as it always should have been. My qualm is not with Rush's functioning so much as with it's cooldown. When you first gain control at the beginning you can open your stats and see that Rush has a duration of about 4 seconds and a cooldown of about 5 seconds or so. Great, fantastic, everything's looking good so far. However, once you are in the research facility part and you now have an ample amount of squad points to work with, you now see that Rush has an initial FIRST LEVEL cooldown period of twenty three seconds.......... Now, I must confess to y'all that when I saw that cooldown period, I thought that I had just taken an arrow to the knee (that kind of shit happens to people all the time you know). TWENTY THREE SECONDS????? Are you bullshitting me with that? How in the HELL do you go from a cooldown of within 6 seconds AT THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE GAME MIND YOU, to a cooldown of 23 seconds at a, for all we know, much later point in the game and at a point (in this demo) where you are basically immediately put into the thick of action where the low cooldown periods commonly attributed to you as Shepard, would be at their most beneficial. Furthermore, and you might as well consider this "Subpoint A", why is it only Shepard (again, in this demo) who has these rediculous cooldown times? While yes, some of your squadmates' powers INITIALLY may have cooldowns that are over 10 seconds long (as is ME standard, you being more capable in the usage of powers than they), a point or two (from the 11 points allotted to your squadmates) easily brings them in under that. But looking at ME2, it was you, the player, who had the lowest cooldown times of any power, even if your squad had the same abilities. I can only imagine (and do believe) that this was to "force" you to do most of the work and not just spam your squads' powers left and right. Also, I've read that a lot of the criticism of ME2 was that it was more or less a glorified third person shooter, a "Gears" if you will. Now wheras I do not share this sentiment towards ME2, I am afraid that, based on this demo and these points that arose from it, I might be starting to develop a bit of that disposition towards this game (and yes I do feel a bit of irony at the fact that I play as a soldier, the class that pretty much only uses guns in combat, and am "starting" to feel this way towards this game based solely on this demo) and it's the incredibly extended cooldown times of vital powers that, to me at least, greatly increases your reliance on your weapons therefore making this game play more often, like a common shooter. I really hope that this apprehension is blown to kingdom come when the final game launches but I will hold on to this reservation until I actually get the game. In short I am seriously hoping that these rediculous cooldowns get gone and stay gone in the final game. Point 2 UPGRADES: This was one of those long touted features on almost all of the showcasing that BioWare did promoting all of the "new and improved" stuff in ME3 and I for one was quite interested in seeing the new interface and weapon cosmetics. Now while there are upgrades to be collected around the research facility (2 weapon, 2 armor I think), there is no place/way to install any of these upgrades in any capacity whatsoever. Simply put, this is just stupid. If you were to include upgrades why would you not have some way of implementing them? Point 3 SNIPER RIFLES: There aren't any Point 4 MOVEMENT: The mapping of rolling, cover swapping, and fatigue-less sprint (seriously, aren't you supposed to be this highly trained elite forces soldier were a Spectre for shit's sake? Shouldn't you be able to sprint for more than five seconds before getting winded?) to the "A" button (a la Gears of War, long fucking last) is a huge improvement to me but it seems a bit sticky and jilted to me but then again it probably has to do with negotiating the less than stellar layout of the research facility (I don't think that it's really that good for weapon combat or the easy use of powers, it's got some awkward looking cover positions among other things). Point 5 "HEALING" Right now, simply put, I like Unity much better than First Aid. And I REALLY don't like getting my ass shot up going out into the open to revive squadmates because they don't move fast enough to get to another position ten feet away. Point 6 ENEMY GRENADES: At times there seem to be way too many of them flying at me (at this point I think that I'm just starting to bitch at random stuff that I didn't like for five seconds at one point). Now on to the pluses: -Shepard (particularly the male Shepard) has much improved facial expressions and Mark Meer seems to actually WANT to emote more with his lines. -Even on Insanity for this demo, your squadmates seem to be able to take much more punishment than in ME2 but don't seem to have gotten a great deal smarter (except for Garrus, one of my favorite squadmates in ME2, but I've probably spent more medi-gel reviving him because of his dumbass AI than on any other squad member so for him to be much more competent, have more useful powers, and to be able to take a beating are all huge bonuses in my book). -I'm liking the idea of different variants of weapons (ex: M-96 Mattock I there be a Mattock II or Lancer II or something cause I'm not totally digging the whole look of the stripped down looking Mattock I, it just looks way too plastiky to me, like a toy) and finding/buying/making new variants of those guns (I don't mean putting upgrades on them although that's fine too). -The Soldier's ability to use SMGs now (really liking the Tempest right now but want to use the Locust a lot more). -The new (*cough* better) grenades are pretty sweet. -Liking the more aggressive enemies (Cerberus troops still look pretty stupid with their dinky looking little white machine pistols). -New heavy melees are looking cool (especially like the Sentinel's melee) -The shotgun's new reticle, much better. I'm sure I'm forgetting something or other but for now this will do. thedude52x :Yeah you have to be real careful with those arrows to the knee, they can end an adventuring career quick. As for your points of contention, I noticed those things as well, especially the power cooldown (It's the same with a vanguard's biotic charge and a sentinel's tech armor). I'm hoping that it is just for the demo and will be fixed or polished in the final game. I also found the cover to be difficult to maneuver around as well but remember reading something from Casey Hudson that they didn't want the typical cover from the last game where it was easy to find and you pretty much knew you were going to get attacked. They wanted it more like everyday situations and that in some instances you would just have to make do with what you could find. I also had issue with the first aid feature at first as well but am starting to get okay with. From a realism standpoint it makes sense I guess. I was hoping for a sniper rifle as well but think they chose what they did to help keep the demo under 2 GB. I also think that they slacked a little on the pathfinding AI for your team mates because of this reason also (We can hope anyway.) Thanks for commenting--Iiams571 14:16, February 15, 2012 (UTC) Honestly, I loved almost everything about the demo. The only issue I have is the lack of dialogue choices (there are only like three or four in the entire singleplayer portion). Everything else has been simply perfect. The controls are incredible, the animation is smooth and beautiful, the combat works a LOT more smoothly, and feels like it's really going back to the ME1 approach of "cover is available, but it's only one option." The enemy AI feels incredibly smart, too. I've been snuck up on more times than I can count by Cerberus, both in singleplayer and in multiplayer. It's a lot harder, but I actually really like it that way. I was getting kind of tired of blowing through ME2 on Hardcore without a challenge. The storytelling in general is really well-done, too. And the way weapons, characters, and upgrades work in multiplayer is incredible. Nobody has an advantage, because it's all left up to chance. You only get upgrades for a few missions (depending on the upgrade's level), and new characters and weapons come pretty rarely, which makes it so that when you DO unlock them, it feels INCREDIBLE. This demo is absolutely everything I could have hoped for. Although it did feel short. The singleplayer ended really abruptly and seemingly out of nowhere. But I like it like that. That just means that there will be even more for me to experience anew once the game comes out! --HellfireDezzy 06:23, February 16, 2012 (UTC) :I agree with HellfireDezzy, this game is the combination ME and ME2 and collective experience of Biowares staff from the ME and ME2 combined into a great game (at least thats what the demo tells me).Epzo 18:52, February 17, 2012 (UTC) Hearing this song at the end of the first mission almost made me cry. Absolutely gorgeous. TheUnknown285 00:05, February 18, 2012 (UTC)